Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) said he won't resign after Republicans and Democrats alike called on him to step down over an apparent affair with a staffer who later died.

“I am not going to resign. I work every day for the people of Texas,” Gonzales told CNN’s Manu Raju on Tuesday.

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Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, now a podcaster, reacted with outrage at the way New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani handled a preplanned snowball fight in lower Manhattan on Monday, which ended chaotically after NYPD officers arrived and were promptly met with snowballs.

“I’ve seen the videos of kids throwing snowballs at NYPD officeers in Washington Square Park,” Mamdani said on social media. “Officers, like all city workers, have been out in a historic blizzard, keeping New Yorkers safe and cars moving. Treat them with respect.”

He added, “If anyone’s catching a snowball, it’s me.”

To Kelly and others, though, the snowballs were apparently a menace to public safety.

“NOT. IT. SIR. Kids??” she replied to Mamdani on X.

Video of the incident shows what appear to be teens or young adults in the park lobbing snowballs at NYPD officers, who retreat calmly to a van.

Fox News and multiple local Fox affiliates covered the incident, with Fox 5 morning show co-hosts Rosanna Scotto and Jerry O’Connell calling it “a tense situation” where “anybody who’s seen this video is not happy.” Multiple organizations representing NYPD officers derided the snowballs as dangerous.

Right-wing outlets have been paying close attention to Mamdani's mayoral tenure, as he is the city's first Muslim and Democratic Socialist to be elected to the office.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanded the AI company Anthropic allow its models to be used for the mass surveillance of Americans and the development of weapons that fire without human involvement in a meeting Tuesday with the company's CEO, Axios reported.

Anthropic's Claude model is currently the only AI approved for use in the military's classified systems, but Hegseth has suggested the government could either declare the company a supply chain risk, essentially cutting the company off from work with the Pentagon and its numerous contractors, or try to use the Defense Production Act to force the company to produce a model fitting the Pentagon's demands. He gave Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei until Friday to comply.

"During the conversation, Dario expressed appreciation for the Department's work and thanked the Secretary for his service," an Anthropic spokesperson told Axios. "We continued good-faith conversations about our usage policy to ensure Anthropic can continue to support the government's national security mission in line with what our models can reliably and responsibly do."

The Pentagon's threats to cut out Anthropic entirely are seen as something of a bluff -- there is no readily available replacement for the product, though Elon Musk's xAI recently signed a contract to try to bring Grok into classified settings, and both OpenAI and Google could also adapt their models for classified use.

A new poll from the University of New Hampshire shows progressive oyster farmer Graham Platner with a substantial lead in Maine's Democratic Senate primary and topping Sen. Susan Collins in the general election.

The poll found Platner with a 64% to 26% edge over Gov. Janet Mills in the primary, and leading GOP Sen. Susan Collins 49% to 38% in a general election. The survey found Mills and Collins essentially tied in a general election matchup, 41% to 40%.

The poll also found Mills' approval among all voters sitting at 46%, with 52% expressing disapproval.

The survey of 1,120 likely voters of the state, conducted from Feb. 12 to Feb. 16, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, will be President Donald Trump's “special guest” at his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, confirmed Kirk will attend the event, in which Trump will reportedly urge Congress to “firmly reject political violence.”

Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist who founded Turning Point USA, was shot dead in September while speaking at Utah Valley University.

Trump stood alongside Erika Kirk during a memorial service for her husband days after the shooting, and spoke about how he disagreed with Charlie Kirk in wanting the best for his opponents.

“I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry. I am sorry, Erika,” he said at the event in Arizona shortly after Erika Kirk had spoken of forgiving her husband's killer.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) defended FBI director Kash Patel partying with the USA men's hockey team after their Olympic win.

Jordan was asked by CNN's Manu Raju if Patel's reported use of an FBI jet should be investigated, a question he initially sidestepped, saying, "This was as all-American, apple pie moment as possible. The American men's team, the American women's team played unbelievable hockey." When pressed again, Jordan eventually suggested, "I think he was over there because of security, looking at security."In the past, Jordan has gone after plenty of Democrats for allegedly using their proximity to public office for private gain, notable among them Hunter Biden.

The U.S. Secret Service plays a big role in the State of the Union every year, ensuring that the president, the vice president and other high-level government officials are protected throughout the event.

This year, though, its agents aren’t being paid. The Department of Homeland Security is entering day 10 of a partial shutdown as Congress fights over new funding for immigration enforcement, and the Secret Service isn’t being funded in the process.

It’s not clear if, or how, the lack of paychecks will affect the number of Secret Service agents working the event. A Secret Service spokesperson declined to comment.

Instead, they pointed to a statement from Secret Service Director Sean Curran about all the planning that’s been put into making the State of the Union a success.

"The U.S. Secret Service has conducted extensive security planning with public safety partners over the past few months for the 2026 State of the Union and is prepared to provide the highest level of security for this [National Special Security Event],” Curran said.

"We have been preparing for this event with our partners and will have a successful protective mission thanks to our dedicated workforce,” he said. “The men and women of the Secret Service represent the best among us. Their commitment to the mission, our protectees and the nation are unparalleled."

Laurence des Cars, the director of the Louvre, resigned Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Thieves stole nine items, including jewels, from the museum in a seven-minute heist in October; des Cars offered to resign over the "terrible failure" of the Louvre's security.

The office of French President Emmanuel Macron, who accepted her resignation, praised "an act of responsibility at a time when the world's largest museum needs calm and a strong new impetus to successfully carry out major projects involving security, and modernization," according to Reuters.

An NPR investigation into the Epstein files found the Justice Department removed and withheld a substantial number of documents that mention President Donald Trump.

Using unique serial numbers tied to documents in the Epstein database, NPR concluded at least 53 pages of Trump-related documents have been withheld.

Among those missing are FBI files concerning allegations Trump sexually abused a minor, including interviews with the woman, who said Epstein introduced her to Trump in the early 1980s when she was around 13 years old and allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Other missing documents include testimony from a different woman who served as a witness in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, a former acquaintance of Epstein’s who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. Maxwell refused to answer questions before the House Oversight Committee during a closed-door deposition earlier this month, indicating she’s holding out for a pardon from Trump.

NPR’s conclusions align with those of lawmakers who reviewed unredacted versions of the Epstein files earlier this month and accused the DOJ of orchestrating a cover-up.

“I saw the names of lots of people who were redacted for mysterious or baffling or inscrutable reasons,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters. “I think the Department of Justice has been in coverup mode for many months and has been trying to sweep the entire thing under the rug.”

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio will reportedly brief lawmakers Tuesday on the situation in Iran as the U.S. assembles the largest fleet of warplanes and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.

Rubio's discussions with House and Senate leaders, and leading figures on congressional intelligence committees, comes as negotiations between Iran and the U.S. on Tehran's nuclear program are expected to continue Thursday.

Trump has warned of “bad things” if no deal is made.

Read more at Politico:

Plans for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in New Hampshire have been scrapped following a local backlash.

New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) announced Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security will not move forward with the proposed facility in Merrimack following discussions with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

“I thank Secretary Noem for hearing the concerns of the Town of Merrimack and for the continued cooperation between DHS and New Hampshire law enforcement to secure our northern border, keep dangerous criminals off our streets, and ensure our communities are safe,” Ayotte said in a statement.

It's unclear whether an alternative location will be sought for an ICE center in the state.

The Trump administration is facing resistance from communities across the country as it looks to spend more than $38 billion converting warehouses into detention centers to support the president's sweeping immigration crackdown.

I’m pleased to announce that the Department of Homeland Security will not move forward with the proposed ICE facility in Merrimack. During my trip to Washington last week, I had productive discussions with Secretary Kristi Noem. I thank her for hearing the concerns of the…

On Tuesday night, Democrats in Congress will once again face one of the most mundane tasks in politics: How to channel their constituents' disgust and outrage with President Donald Trump and his policies during a State of the Union address.

Countering the president ― who has the benefit of being able to talk for an hour or more while you’re expected to sit still ― has proven difficult for members of both parties. Democrats' efforts in 2025 were mostly met with skepticism or resistance. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) won liberal plaudits and got booted out of the chamber for waving his cane and yelling at Trump, while progressives were panned for the circular signs they passed out with anti-Trump messages. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) made a few headlines for solemnly walking around the chamber with her handwritten message, "This is NOT Normal."

Read more here:

President Donald Trump is set to continue jabbing at former President Joe Biden for the cost-of-living crisis despite returning to the White House more than a year ago.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday previewed some of the themes likely to emerge in the president's State of the Union address later in the day, noting he would highlight his “no tax on tips” policy and discounts on medications under the TrumpRx government portal.

Leavitt told Fox News he would “share stories of everyday Americans benefiting from his policies and making a few new policy announcements as well to continue tackling the affordability crisis Joe Biden created a year ago.”

Karoline Leavitt: "The president will be making a few new policy announcements to continue tackling the affordability crisis that Joe Biden created one year ago." (Joe Biden was no longer president one year ago.) pic.twitter.com/gRkRetYZ08

Savannah Guthrie said her family is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information that leads to the recovery of her missing mother, Nancy, while saying she may “already be gone” but “we need to know where she is.”

“We still believe in a miracle, we still believe that she can come home,” the co-anchor of NBC's "Today" show said in an emotional video posted Tuesday morning to Instagram.

“We also know that she may be lost, she may already be gone. She may have already gone home to the lord that she loves and is dancing in heaven with her mom and her dad and with her beloved brother Pierce, and with our daddy. And if this is what is to be, then we will accept it,” she says in the video. “But we need to know where she is. We need her to come home. For that reason, we are offering a family reward of up to $1 million for any information that leads us to her recovery.”

Guthrie said her family has also donated $500,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“Somebody knows something that can bring her home. Somebody knows,” she says.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are continuing to scare, intimidate and disrupt day-to-day life for Minnesota's parents, students and teachers, despite the Trump administration announcing a drawdown of agents earlier this month, local school officials told Minnesota Public Radio.

“I had to cancel school because of all of our staff that were not feeling safe to come to work,” Fridley Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Lewis told MPR News during a recent tour of her district, located just north of Minneapolis.

Lewis said she used to only see ICE hanging around her schools during student arrival and dismissal times, a tactic that she believes was meant to intimidate and “let us know that they were there.”

“Then it started to elevate into me being followed two times in one day, it also elevated that same day into ICE sitting outside of three board members' homes that day and a board member being followed,” she said.

At one point, she said, ICE agents dressed up like members of the press, wearing fake orange press bands on their arms, and stood outside one of her schools yelling and screaming at parents and staff while recording and taking pictures.

The district’s safety and security coordinator, Steve Monsrud, called the agents’ behavior unlike anything he’s ever seen from law enforcement.

“They seem to be pretty aggressive and short-tempered, and maybe not the best trained,” he said.

Read the full story at MPR News.

National security officials have privately warned some of the biggest players in Silicon Valley that Beijing is drawing up plans to seize Taiwan, warning that a Chinese blockade of the island would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. tech industry given its reliance on Taiwanese-made computer chips, The New York Times reported.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid out the stakes of Silicon Valley's dependence on Taiwan for the supply of high-end chips during an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.

“If that island were blockaded, that capacity were destroyed, it would be an economic apocalypse," he warned.

But most of the biggest U.S. tech companies have largely ignored the threat despite the clear danger, the report states.

A confidential report commissioned in 2022 by the Semiconductor Industry Association found that if the supply of computer chips from Taiwan were stopped, it would cause the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, The Times reported.

Read more at The New York Times.

There’s a lot that goes into "making America healthy again" ― and mothers are taking on most of the work.

The MAHA movement, created and led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has relied on mis- and disinformation to villainize many parts of everyday life, including vaccines, food additives and dyes, and household cleaners. Much of the rhetoric is about health being linked to an individual’s choices — or, in the case of kids, the choices of their parents.

Nearly 40% of parents in the U.S. identify as supporters of the MAHA movement, according to an October 2025 survey. More than 80% of those parents identify as Republicans who support President Donald Trump. A minority of MAHA parents don’t identify as conservative, but still question the legitimacy of the current medical establishment.

Read more here:

Neighbors, government workers and a powerful railroad snow-clearing machine nicknamed “Darth Vader” scrambled to dig out much of the northeastern United States from a brutal and — in some areas — record-breaking storm that blanketed the region with snow and resulted in thousands of flight cancellations.

But as the snow moved northward and tapered off in other areas Tuesday, forecasters warned that another storm could be right around the corner.

Read more at The Associated Press:

The Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal on Monday once again torched President Donald Trump over his signature economic policy of tariffs.

After the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s "Liberation Day" tariffs last week, the newspaper’s conservative editorial board argued that "the smart play" would have been to "take an off-ramp and forgo or pause new" ones.

Read more here:

President Donald Trump wants Russia and Ukraine to reach a deal to end the four-year war by July 4, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

While the U.S. is pushing for an agreement by this summer, it is unclear if Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is prepared to make any concessions required to bring the drawn-out conflict to a close, the report noted.

Read more at Bloomberg:

The masked man shown in the surveillance photos and video from the night of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance had visited her home before, according to multiple reports.

A photo released by the FBI showing the man on her front porch, without a backpack, was captured by the doorbell camera before Feb. 1, the night police believe the mother of NBC journalist Savannah Guthrie was kidnapped, the reports said.

Sources told ABC News it is possible the person was scared off after noticing the camera the first time he approached the front door, only to return on Feb. 1 and tamper with the device.

Read more at ABC News:

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